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Susan J. Demas: Establishment Republicans try to crush the Tea Party, but is it too late?

tea party.jpg

The Tea Party helped carry the GOP to victory in 2010, with passionate rallies like this one in Grand Rapids. But after the disastrous shutdown, establishment Republicans want to take back control of their party.
(MLive File Photo)

While some members of the establishment have condemned this bigotry and bad behavior, the Republican Party has still relied on Tea Party support to push its agenda in Michigan and nationwide.

Then the shutdown happened. Some Republicans are still vainly arguing that it was all the Democrats' fault, but the American public isn't buying it. Their party has sunk to its lowest level ever in polls, terrifying establishment Republicans.

Watch for these folks during the next manufactured crisis to blithely back yanking Medicare and Social Security checks to show just how unnecessary government is, even though it could cost Republicans votes from their most reliable voting block -senior citizens.

So now the establishment is out to crush them, like something out of the "Star Wars" saga, an analogy first made by the National Journal.

Like the Rebel Alliance in the wake of the Death Star's destruction, Tea Partiers will have to weather a furious assault on all fronts from the GOP Empire in order to survive as a political force.

Of course, the time to start doing this was in 2006, back when there were still moderates left in the GOP like Michigan former U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz.

Years before the advent of the Tea Party, anti-tax groups like Club for Growth successfully knocked out establishment Republicans by cherry-picking votes to make candidates look liberal and weak. Few people vote in GOP primaries, and those who do tend to be far more conservative.

And in the primary process, money often can't trump passion. That's why longtime Indiana U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar last year was trounced by a Tea Partier -- who promptly fell to a Democrat in the general election.

Now the establishment is sick of losing elections and wants to wrest back control of the party. They used the Tea Party's passion when it was convenient, but now see it as a destructive force.

It's a betrayal many Tea Partiers saw coming. And like all true believers, they're not about to surrender without a spectacular fight.

Susan J. Demas is Publisher and Editor of Inside Michigan Politics, a nationally acclaimed, biweekly political newsletter. She can be reached at susan@sjdemas.com. Follow her on Twitter here.